


It doesn't mean never

by TerresDeBrume



Series: Portfolio [9]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Post-Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 04:43:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13228314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TerresDeBrume/pseuds/TerresDeBrume
Summary: It takes Thor a week to corner Loki down. It's long, in a ship like theirs, but it's also shorter than it would have been before.





	It doesn't mean never

**Author's Note:**

> First fic of the year! Written for a prompt I got on tumblr forever ago, which I thought was a good fit for some post-Ragnarok feels :P

In the end, Thor finds Loki at the very back of the ship, in a storage room lined with sex toys floor to ceiling. It should probably not be as surprising as it is. Thor makes an absent note of the appliances, some foreign-looking enough to border on scary, before he starts truly paying attention to his brother. Loki’s poise is intact, making him look for all the world like he couldn’t care less where he is or what’s happening, but Thor has grown better at that game in the past six years. Loki’s eyes may have lost the frenzied blue edge they held in New York, but something of their sharp brittleness still clings to his smiles like a spiked mantle.

It is a good thing Thor has grown past trying to tear them off, too.

 

“Loki,” he starts, not quite sure how the sentence will end, “I’d like to—”

“Discuss our plans for the future? Of course.”

 

Loki’s words rush, these days. Six years ago, a lifetime ago, they would have come out at a sedate pace. It used to be Loki’s diplomatic voice mimicked the poised rhythm of their mother's words perfectly. That, like so many things, faded out of him just as Thor learned to embrace it for himself. Loki’s composure cracking while Thor’s settled. Sometimes, it all feels too symmetrical to be true.

 

“There aren’t much supplies on the ship,” Loki continues, the pretense of calm so tight around him Thor wouldn’t notice it if he didn’t know to look for it. “Our list of useful items is pretty much limited to mechanics’ tools. There are at least three rooms like this one, though. Knowing the Grandmaster, I believe some of those items could get us good sums, if we play our cards carefully.”

“That’s good,” Thor allows.

 

They will need to think of this sooner rather than later, after all; and it’s not like selling second-hand sex toys would be the first idea popping in the average Asgardian mind. Plus, of course, the satisfaction of robbing a shady ass even further. That is, however, not what Thor came to talk about, so he continues:

 

“Before we do that, though—”

“We’ll have to clean them up, of course,” Loki cuts in, voice tightening as he pretends to misunderstand. “And have them priced. Limited as we are, we’ll need to get everything we can out of these things.”

 

Thor stomps on the first prickles of annoyance rising in his chest. Loki’s obliviousness grates, it’s true, but getting angry won’t accomplish anything. Thor should know: that’s what Loki did six years ago, and it didn’t go over all that well.

 

“We’ll be careful,” he promises, because he’s learned his lesson about dismissing people and Loki in particular, “but—”

“I might be able to find some buyers,” Loki steamrolls, the edge in his tone sharpening until it almost cuts.

 

This time, Thor doesn’t go along with it.

 

“Stop interrupting me!” He demands.

 

He didn’t mean to put thunder in his voice. Didn’t mean to stretch Loki’s smile into something even thinner. The irony of it isn’t lost on him. Thunder seems to reside in him more than come to him these days, though. Nervous as he is, Thor isn’t sure he’d have been able to keep it out, no matter what. Still, he makes sure to take a step away from Loki and relax his shoulders before he continues despite his brother’s pinched look.

 

“Loki, I know I’ve said it before but I didn’t get it, and I’m not sure you were—”

“I don’t want to hear it.”

 

The words tumble fast from Loki’s mouth, quiet in a way that makes it sound like he’s expecting punishment for them. Truth be told, Thor has to make an effort not to ask if his brother is serious. Honestly though, how could he do anything else? Loki’s quest for apologies destroyed a planet, tore their family apart, precipitated the deaths of both their parents...and now this? Really?

Just because Thor knows better than to voice his incredulity doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel entitled to it, thank you very much.

 

“I know,” Loki says as he steps away, hands coming up as if in defense, “I know. But I don’t want to hear it.”

 

Thor watches Loki’s throat work around empty air. The shiver in his fingers. The wideness of his eyes. He looks at all of this and finds, to his lessening surprise, that it isn’t as hard to find the truth behind Loki’s words as it once was. With a sigh, Thor finds Loki’s eyes with his own and holds his brother’s gaze. Until the facade cracks.

 

“Not now,” Loki admits.

 

His voice is low, almost a whisper. The words tighten his jaw when he speaks. A lifetime ago, Thor would have wondered at this, and asked what was wrong. Loki would have lied, and the divide between them would have grown. Thor has, thankfully, learned better than that.

He doesn’t give into the impulse of asking what’s wrong, choosing to squeeze Loki’s shoulder instead. He tries to put what he isn’t saying in his smile. That he isn’t fooled, but will respect Loki’s need for space, and time. Especially time, actually. They’re immortal, after all, and Loki only said ‘not now’.

 

It doesn’t mean never.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and reviews make me want to keep writing!


End file.
